Best Countries For Start-up Businesses – Wales

If you’re a young entrepreneur or business owner, then let your business thrive in Wales, the best country for all startups looking to be successful. 

Wales – A strong Base For Startups 

Wales; it’ scenic, it has both great cultural and historical value, it has Blue Flag Status beaches – a prestigious endowment not shared by many, it’s economy has changed with the times, and these days it seems to also be the ideal spot for startups! That’s right folks, Wales has many reasons to visit it or stay for that matter. It’s great for tourism and for those looking to make a way in this grand story that we call life.  Heading into it’s 6^th year of existence, the Wales Start-Up Awards (est.2015) has been lauding those entrepreneurs and individuals who had the vision, the insight and the guts to take something from inception to successful fruition. It’s the road less travelled and  yet Wales seems to be the perfect incubation tank for successful start-ups, so much so that the above-mentioned prestigious award ceremony was the by-product of such endeavours.

Why Wales?

So, the question that then arises is, why Wales? What makes Wales such an ideal candidate for the fermentation of good business ideas? The simple answer to this question is that Wales offers all seven of the key attributes geared towards successful startups: a supportive ecosystem, affordable living, higher education institutes, access to funding, availability of potential mentors, infrastructure and a growing economy. In short, Wales is ripe for the picking if you’re interested in starting your own start-up or finding employment by one of its many startups.

A supportive ecosystem

Wales has cultivated an intricate and helpful web of innovators, entrepreneurs and like-minded business owners who all contribute towards a supportive ecosystem. This system can be further subdivided into start-up ventures, award ceremonies, co-working spaces and individual networking groups. In science it would be called mutual symbiosis; a back and forth of ideas and information all geared towards success. In some cases, startups have also benefited from the financial possibilities of finance and investment using CFDs.

Affordable living

Wales, like London and Bristol, offers the same buzz without the financial fuzz. Many fresh graduates find the financial demands of places like London and Bristol to be challenging, whereby Wales provides the same amenities at a much better cost.

Higher education institutes

Thanks to a focus on higher eduction, Wales produces a wealth of young talent and in turn, fantastic internships.  Adding to the nurturing of academia and talent is Swansea University with its computer science, management and engineering faculties, and Bangor University, a recent recipient of the Teaching Excellence Framework Awards.

Access to funding

Wales provides a wealth of funding by various means. Government and private organisations all feed into this movement. Composed of funds, investors and support networks, these include and are not limited to the Development Bank of Wales, Angels Invest Wales and Inspire Growth Wales.

Availability of potential mentors

The concept of ‘survive and thrive’ is personified by relevant clubs, institutions of education, boot camps,  support, services, accelerators and others.  Notable mentions include the National Software Academy at Cardiff University as well as the Swansea University Computational Foundry.

Infrastructure

Getting in and around Wales is easy. London is a mere 2 hour commute by way of the M4 corridor while the rest of Europe is also easily accessible. The first 5G network was launched in Cardiff and in addition to this, Cardiff has also been awarded as the 3^rd best capital city in Europe.

A growing economy

Within the last 250 years Wales has gone from an agricultural county to a post-industrial economy. Its Blue Flag Status beaches bolsters the economy thanks to all the tourism while the International Convention Centre Wales has hosted the NATO Summit. Wales also boasts the fastest growing digital economy outside of London.